Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Secret Hideaways

Some of the photographs we inherit from our now-long-gone
relatives are of the non-labeled type maddeningly portraying people we are sure
must be family members. We agonize over such pictures, wishing to know which
faces might match the names from our research database—those names we already
know too well.

Some snapshots, however, capture the sights from our
relatives’ past, constructing for us a tale of the places they’ve been.
Usually, we can guess—or, more happily, even infer—identities of such
locations, based on our knowledge of the whereabouts of our ancestors.

In the case of Bill Bean, however, the act of guessing may
not come remotely near the fact of the matter. In his later years, Bill—along with
his wife, Ellen, of course—was quite the traveler.

Such is most likely the case with one picture in Bill Bean’s
collection of unmarked photographs. Set in a geography I can’t quite place, the
subject of the composition is not Bill, not his wife, not even “natives” of the
area he was visiting.

The subject is a building.

Set on what appears to be a sandbar at the edge of a lake
perched near bald hilltops, the building looks like a hotel—all except for one distinguishing
detail: no people. Oh, there may be a speck or two on this photograph that
might be human, but the building is conspicuously void of the throngs of people
one might assume would accompany a building of this size.

Another surprise: the building seems to lack any of the
customary signage of such a commercial enterprise. What kind of building is
this? And why was Bill there to take its picture?

Given Bill's fishing - Sailfish and what have you - he might well be in a fishing boat off-shore of his hotel. The hotel has a "Mexican/Spanish" look to it, which means it could be anywhere on the California, Mexico, points south coast.

I see a white wood fence leading down from the "highway" on the left - the driveway appears to go past tennis courts (and/or swimming pools). I see some palm trees and some Mexican style Cabanas.

I'm guessing the year is circa 1930-ish.

The harbor at Avalon, Catalina Island has a very distinctive circular building on the breakwater that has been there for years and years (pre-1920?), so I don't think this is Avalon, but it might be Catalina Island. From what I remember of my visit there - the hills look much like these - mostly bare with the occasional tree.

Iggy, while I have absolutely no clue where this place is located (Bill rarely labeled photos), I did have that same sense that the photo was taken from a boat and not from land. The perspective of the shot seemed so much lower--closer to the water's level--than would have been experienced in a picture taken from the level of the land. I also wondered if the blank area in the front of the photo was the edge of a boat railing.

The thing that bothered me about the Catalina Island guess is the configuration of the hills--the angle of the rise, the relative lowness of the rounded tops, the ups and downs, rather than a straight-line high horizon. From the pictures I've seen of Catalina Island, I don't get that same sense of the shape of the individually-articulated hills.

Huh. Somewhere in the southwest, because of the scrub bushes. Maybe even an old military structure from the Mexican-American War? We were shown a building like this on a bus tour of San Francisco, as a historical reminder of the M-A war. I notice a fence on the left and some kind of little huts in front.

Wish I had more details. The angle of the photograph says to me, "This is a famous place that we happened to drive by."

Good point about the Spanish style architecture. The place does have that sort of ambience. Mariann, like fish in water not noticing their surroundings, since I've been in California, I hardly think about scrub brushes, but someone from back east like yourself would notice such a detail. And the rounded hills void of tall trees would be another such detail.

I do get the feeling, as you mentioned, that "this is a famous place" although it may have actually been Bill's destination.

I'm not sure this is one and the same location as that of the Harrington picture. But you have a point, Wendy: why have only one picture--although I'm applying that thought to the Harrington picture, myself. I just know he's got to be in some of those other kazillion photos I've got in that box!

Geez, I LOVE sleuthing! Jacqi, your photo intrigued me. My immediate thought was, Catalina Island, as others have mentioned as well, and set about to prove it. It's the Hotel St. Catherine in Descanso Bay, Catalina Island, CA. My first real clue was finding a newspaper archive of an article in The Catalina Islander, 18 Feb 2011. Luckily, one of the photos was of the hotel, partially torn down. I compared what was still standing to your photo & felt it might be a match. The article says it was in disrepair having been used as a barracks during the 40s, & deemed too costly to return it to its former 1st-class status was used for employee housing. It was eventually torn down in 1966. As you may know Mr. Wrigley of Chicago Cub fame owned the island for a time and this hotel is where the Cubs stayed during spring training.

I then googled the name of the hotel and found all kinds of images matching your photo, including Google Books which has great images from postcards: search for "Santa Catalina Island: In Vintage Postcards." I think you may be able to buy it. I found a single postcard on another site for $6.99.

I see additional sleuthing in your future now that you know what it is. Have fun.

The Wilmington Transpotation Company (of California) had a glass bottomed side paddle wheeler built in 1906 that gave tours around Catalina. Its name was the Empress! Bill may have been on it when he took this photo. Thanks to thisileave and Anne!

Anne and Iggy, all your discoveries have left me breathless! My apologies for not getting back on here sooner to reply. (The last few days were rough, health-wise, for my relative in the hospital but I saw your posts shortly after you wrote them!)

Anne, I heartily concur with your assessment that this is the Hotel St. Catherine in Descanso Bay. I don't know if this is one of the images you found, but check out this picture here from the Los Angeles Public Library. The photo dates from 1938. Though it is a small photo, the architecture seems to match up well!

And Iggy, I can't believe how all this info is coming together! That is amazing about the Empress! I had no context to place my photo in (the one of Bill by the lifeboat). It looked to be from his younger adult years, so I naturally placed it within the context of his work in the Bay area, not southern California! Leave it to your sharp eyes for details--especially regarding all things nautical!

This has been absolutely delightful! Thank you both so much for all your help!

And Donna, your "wild guess" that started this whole volley turned out to be headed in the right direction!

Jacqi~~Yes, that library photo is it, but too far away. I encourage you to go to Google Books to see the images there. You'll see that they match your photo exactly. If you look for that article I mentioned as well, it's interesting to get the history of it. I'm sure there's a lot more out there.

My good thoughts go out to you regarding your relative, no apologies needed. I'm new to your blog, and as I was jumping around reading more, became aware something was going on. I appreciate all the work you've put into this and love your writing style. I found you on the Clue Wagon blog, responding to one of Kerry's posts; clicked on your name, and "voila", found you! So glad I was able to help you. I didn't know I was into sleuthing until after I got the genealogy bug. I'm about to become a newbie to blogging, launching my own soon. Yikes!

About Me

It is my contention that, after a lifetime, one of the greatest needs people have is to be remembered. They want to know: have I made a difference?
I write because I can't keep for myself the gifts others have entrusted to me. Through what I've already been given--though not forgetting those to whom I must pass this along--from family I receive my heritage; through family I leave a legacy. With family I weave a tapestry. These are my strands.